50 Percabeth One-Shots
by riptidedauntlessgryffindor
Summary: 50 prompts. 50 chapters. 50 Percabeth moments. Some one-shots are shorter than others. Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and I'm not Rick Riordan. All one-shots are AU. Please review! (Story used to be called 50 Prompts Challenge but apparently challenges are not allowed)
1. Dance

**Dance**

Percy swung Annabeth around the room. He was teaching her to dance, in preparation for her friend Thalia's Sweet Sixteen the next day. Of course, Percy wasn't going. He didn't have a date.

Annabeth didn't have a date either, but she had to go with her best friend. Percy wanted to go with her, but he didn't have the nerve to ask her.

Annabeth sat down on Percy's couch, her dress making it very hard to concentrate. It was a thin blue strapless dress, and she was wearing a silver necklace. Percy gasped when she bent over to get a drink of water.

"So…" Annabeth asked. "You heard about the dance coming up, right?" Percy assumed she meant the Sweet Sixteen, so he nodded.

"And you want to ask me? Not happening." Percy didn't know what he was saying. Annabeth's face fell, and Percy knew he had to rescue the situation.

"The boy has to ask the girl. So, will you go to the dance with me?"

"Yes!" Annabeth answered, and they kissed. They didn't even end up going to the party. They just stayed home and danced the night away.


	2. Treat

**Treat**

Percy didn't want to be stuck with two giggling little kids all day, but that's where he was. His daughter, Alison, and her best friend, Robert, were playing together in her room. He wondered when Robert would pop the dreaded question: where was Ali's mom?

The real answer was that she ran away and was obviously never coming back, but Percy liked to tell people that she was gone. And he never elaborated, hoping it would give him sympathetic looks- a single father raising a six-year-old child.

But in this case, Robert probably wouldn't believe him. He was a smart seven-year-old boy, and he was good at guessing when people were lying. Like last time, when the kids had discovered that Percy was hiding ice cream from them.

Percy was about to start cleaning out the kitchen when Alison burst into the room, almost in tears. "Where's Mommy?" she demanded. "Robert has a mommy, but no daddy."

Percy sighed, wondering what he was going to say. To make it even worse, Robert had just walked into the kitchen. Both the kids were staring at him expectantly. It was times like this he hated his ex-wife.

"How about...we go get some ice cream as a treat?" Percy suggested. He knew a distraction was the only way to get the kids off the subject, and it worked. Both kids nodded eagerly.

"Can my mommy come too?" Robert asked.

Percy agreed, and called Robert's mother, Annabeth, to meet them at the ice-cream store. He had never met her before; the babysitter had always dropped Robert off at their house and picked him up.

When they finally walked out the door and to the ice-cream shop, Robert ran into the arms of a stunning young woman. Percy assumed she was his mom, but she was beautiful! He almost wanted to run into her arms himself.

They introduced themselves, and began to order. Percy noticed that Annabeth didn't order anything, while he himself ordered one of the largest dishes on the menu for him and his daughter to share.

When the kids had finished eating, they were sticky and messy. Annabeth suggested that the kids go and wash up in the bathroom while the adults clean up the table. Once the kids were gone, Percy stood up.

"Well, Ms. Chase, I hope to see you again soon." Percy tried to be as formal as possible, but Annabeth put her arms out as if to hug him.

They did, and Annabeth mumbled in his ear right before they let go: "I don't know about you, but the real treat of the day was you, not the ice cream."

Percy smiled, and two years later, he was in the same spot, smiling the same smile. Except that smile was for a camera, and a family picture. Percy was married to Annabeth, and she would never leave him. Because she was his treat. And he was hers.


	3. School

**School**

"Will Perseus Jackson please come to the principal's office?"

The announcement rang through the whole school, startling Percy. Though it was expected that he would get called to the office at least once a year, it was only the second day of school.

And he couldn't remember what he had done wrong.

Anyway, he stood up as Mr. Matthews wrote him a hall pass, and ignored the laughs from the other students. After taking the pass and exiting through the door, he felt his heart sink.

His mom would kill him if he got expelled. This would be his fourth school in five years!

The principal's door stood in front of him, intimidating and tall. Percy gulped.

Suddenly, the door opened. A woman who Percy recognized as the assistant principal beckoned him inside.

When Percy was inside and sitting on a chair, he noticed that his mom wasn't there. Usually, when he got in trouble, his mom was called in to pick him up.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked.

But the assistant principal didn't answer. She was too busy sorting through paperwork.

As Percy sat there, the door opened. A girl with curly blonde hair entered and sat down next to Percy. He didn't recognize her, which was a good sign, because that way, if she didn't know him, she wouldn't be able to spread rumors.

"Percy, this is Annabeth Chase," the assistant principal said. "Annabeth, this is Percy. You chose him to show you around the school."

"What?" both Percy and Annabeth exclaimed together.

"I thought I picked Luke!" Annabeth frowned.

"I don't know her!" was Percy's response.

"It's okay, I'm sure you guys will be great friends," the assistant principal reassured them.

Percy and Annabeth shared a look.

And, a few years later, they were looking at each other again, this time with love in their eyes.

The school had brought them together, and they would never be apart.


	4. Sad

**Sad**

A tear dropped down Percy's cheek.

"Annabeth?" he whispered, but there was no reply. Her lifeless face just stared back at him, unmoving.

"Annabeth!"

"Wise Girl?" he said softly.

On the hospital bed, she didn't respond. The IV dripped, making the only noise in the room.

"Please talk to me, Annabeth," Percy pleaded, his vision clouding with tears.

She lay still.

Percy sank down to the floor. It was all his fault that she was here. One minute the truck was across the street, the next minute it was on top of their car.

Percy could have swerved. He should have swerved. Instead, Annabeth was almost dead.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth."

Suddenly, all the machines around her started to beep. A nurse came rushing in, and Percy was pushed out of the way.

He sat in a chair in the corner of the room, watching and wiping away his tears as Annabeth was being taken care of.

A nurse approached him.

"Percy, we don't think she's going to make it. Is there anything you'd like to say to her before she goes?"

Percy walked slowly towards the bed. He knelt down next to her head and kissed her forehead gently.

"Annabeth Chase. Such a beautiful name. I remember you saying it was because your father didn't care about you, you saying it was because he just slapped two names together and left it at that."

"But I love your name. I love everything about you, actually. Your hair, your eyes, your lips."

Percy tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of her face before continuing.

"I love you, Annabeth. And I don't know if I'm ready to yet, but I love you enough to let you go."

Then, Percy backed away.

The heart monitor slowed to a halt.

She was gone.


	5. Clip

**Clip**

Percy wasn't exactly sure about his job as a swan-boat driver in Adams Park, New Jersey. He didn't hate, but he didn't like it either. It was just boring. Most of the time, he took couples out and pretended not to hear them kissing and whispering to each other behind him.

But on this one day, he knew something was different, besides the fact that he had received a newer, fancier outfit for himself from his mother, which he was wearing at the moment. He waited in the swan-boat for people to want a ride.

A girl with curly blonde hair that shone in the sunlight, wearing jean shorts and a red tank top, strolled by casually. Percy knew something was up when he had seen her walk by at least seven times.

On the eighth time she passed by, he called, "Do you want to take a boat ride?"

She nodded, and came up to the pier where he was tied up. "How much is it?"

"It's ten dollars for adults, 13 and up," Percy said automatically. Seeing her face fall, he added, "But I'll give you a ride for six."

"Deal," the girl said. She looked about twenty, the same age as Percy.

Percy started the boat, and they sat in silence for a few seconds, before the girl opened her mouth.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Percy. How about you?"

"I'm Annabeth, but don't call me Annie or I will push you in," Annabeth said, grinning.

"Okay…Annabeth," Percy replied. "But if you do push me in, there'll be no one to operate the boat!"

"Oh." Annabeth shrugged. "That's okay, I'm smart enough to figure it out."

"Hey," Percy said, finally noticing something. "Who are you with? You can't be alone in a park!"

"I'm not alone, silly," Annabeth answered. "I came with my friend Piper and her boyfriend Jason, but I felt like the third wheel so I left them at the pretzel stand."

"So, what I'm hearing is you're single?" was Percy's reply.

She lightly punched him on the arm. "Shut up!"

"Sorry," Percy said.

They sat in silence, drifting through the lake. Suddenly, Annabeth shrieked.

"What? What's the matter?" Percy cried.

"My hair clip! I was trying to redo my hair and it fell into the water! My cousin gave it to me! It's very special!"

"Okay, okay," Percy grumbled. He took off his shirt and jumped in, grabbing the hair clip before it could sink.

He threw it up to Annabeth, pulling himself up and back into the boat.

"Thank you!" Annabeth threw her arms around him, only to realize she was hugging a soaking wet, shirtless, almost-stranger. But she squeezed him tightly anyways.

"So now you're single and ready to mingle," Percy mumbled, while trying to escape Annabeth's grip.

She smiled. "I guess I am."

Even though the restaurants wouldn't allow Percy in because he was dripping wet and shirtless, Annabeth and Percy enjoyed a double date with Piper and Jason by the pretzel stand.


	6. Bread

**Bread**

Annabeth was hurrying home after a long day at school. She was hungry, as she hadn't had time to eat lunch due to the fact the she was trying to study extra-hard for the test that afternoon. Of course, it had paid off. She had received a 100 on the test and a shiny star sticker.

But she didn't know what to do with her lunch. She knew her mom would be angry if she brought it home and wasted it. So she began to walk slower, trying to think of what to do.

Passing the park, she saw a boy sitting on a bench. He was talking to the pigeons that were looking for something to eat.

Annabeth approached him, and sat down next to him. She pulled out her sandwich and handed it to the boy silently. If this were a movie, inspirational music would be playing in the background.

The boy broke off a piece of bread and scattered it to the birds. He finished one slice of bread, and ate the cheese in the middle. Then he handed the other slice back to Annabeth.

"You feed them," he said, standing up. His green eyes looked sad, and his rumpled black hair was dirtier than most boys' hair.

"Okay," Annabeth replied. "See you tomorrow?"

There was a brief pause, and then the boy nodded. "I'm Percy, by the way."

Annabeth smile at him, whispering, "I'm Annabeth" after he had left.

The next day, Percy brought a slice of bread too. They fed the birds in silence, until Percy said, "You really should eat your own lunch. You need the energy."

Annabeth shook her head. "I need to study."

Percy shook his head. "You need to eat."

"Fine," Annabeth said, and the next day, she didn't bring anything.

Percy had brought a baguette, though, so it was all okay.

They fed the birds, talking about who knows what for a long time.

"Do you wanna come over for dinner?" Annabeth asked. "I promise my mom will like you."

"How do you know that?" Percy grumbled. He was having a not-so-good day.

"Because I like you!" Annabeth smiled.

"Fine," Percy replied. "But you have to promise to eat everything."

"Even the bread?" Annabeth asked mischievously.

"Even the bread," Percy answered, and they held hands as they ran to Annabeth's house.


	7. Fish

**Fish**

There was a knock on seven-year-old Annabeth's front door.

"Is that you, Percy?" she called.

She imagined Percy nodding outside her door, then realizing she couldn't see him.

"Yes!" came the reply a few moments later.

Annabeth buttoned up her jacket and raced to the door. She opened it, and Percy came barreling in.

"Be careful," Annabeth warned. "My stepmom has out the good china.

"Oh." Percy looked at the table. "Will we get in trouble if we break it?"

"You won't get in trouble," Annabeth answered. "But I will."

"Why not?" Percy asked curiously.

"She doesn't like yelling at guests," Annabeth said, shrugging.

"But she likes yelling at you?" Percy wondered softly.

"You know what, it's fine. Let's just go to the aquarium." Annabeth laced up her shoes and they walked out the door together.

Percy's mom was waiting in her car. "Hey, kids!"

"Hi, Mrs. Jackson!" Annabeth replied perkily.

"Call me Sally," Sally reminded her.

They got to the aquarium.

"Let's go talk to the fishies!" Percy exclaimed.

"Um...okay?" Annabeth reluctantly followed him.

"Hi fish!" Percy whisper-yelled. He pretended to be listening to them talk back. "The red fish says hi, the blue fish says what's up, and the orange fish says hello."

Annabeth decided to play along. "The silver fish says nice shirt!"

Percy looked at her like she was crazy. "No! It's shy! That fish doesn't like to talk."

Annabeth raised one eyebrow, a skill she was proud to know at age seven. She ignored Percy and watched the fish swim by.

Percy walked over to her after a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Annie!"

"What?" Annabeth thought he was talking about not respecting her opinion before.

"That fish doesn't like you. We should get out of here." Percy looked serious—well, as serious as a seven-year-old could look while informing someone else that a fish doesn't like them.

Sally helped Percy and Annabeth pick out slushie flavors, and aquarium t-shirts, and then they walked around some more.

After a long day at the aquarium, Annabeth was tired. When they went home, she collapsed on her bed without any dinner and fell asleep.

Of course, her stepmom yelled at her for eating too much at the aquarium, but Annabeth didn't mind.

She had a good day with Percy and the fish, and that was all that mattered.


	8. Race

**Race**

Every Sunday, Percy was happy.

Every Sunday, Percy was happy for two reasons. One-he didn't have to go to work, and two-he got to see Annabeth Chase.

The reason he knew Annabeth Chase was through work. She was the boss's daughter, and damn, she was pretty. Every day, he could hear her teaching the new interns at their architecture company, but he barely ever saw her. Except on Sundays.

On Sundays, she would run by his apartment building everyday at exactly five in the morning. Percy had discovered her one morning when he accidentally set his alarm clock for weekends instead of weekdays. He saw her running, and since then, woke up every day before five just to watch her run.

But on this particular Sunday, Percy was even happier. Because this particular Sunday, Percy had decided he was finally going to go talk to her. And that made him really excited. So really, it wasn't a surprise when he awoke at three A.M instead of 4:45.

He took a shower, brushed his hair, teeth, and threw on some shorts and a t-shirt. Trying to tame his hair took a long time, especially when he had bed head, so it was a good thing he had woken up extra-early.

Grinning at himself in the mirror, he finally went downstairs and sat down to wait in front of the building. He pretended to be texting someone on his phone, but he kept sneaking glances upward to check if Annabeth was there.

Finally, a flash of blonde hair was caught in the corner of his eye. He quickly slipped his phone away and went chasing after her. After running for a minute, they stopped at a crosswalk. Percy saw this as his chance to talk to Annabeth, so he called her name.

"Annabeth?"

He saw her turn around, and - as if in slow motion - fall backwards into a puddle. Percy winced. New York City puddles were to be avoided. She groaned, and Percy could see a tear coming out of her eye.

"I'm so sorry! I just wanted to talk," Percy apologized, helping her up. "Please forgive me."

Annabeth leaned on his shoulder, her ankle swelling up. "Give me your shirt and I will."

"What?"

"Give me your shirt. Mine's all wet and yours is fine. I'll forgive you. Maybe I'll even told you out for Starbucks sometime..." Annabeth smiled at him as he obeyed her.

Percy tried to pretend he didn't hear her gasp as he pulled of his shirt. She slipped it on over her athletic tank top, hiding her red face with her hair. When Percy was shirtless and Annabeth had pulled his shirt on, they blushed.

Percy tried to make the situation less awkward by cracking a joke. "Now, did I hear something about a Starbucks?"

Annabeth shrugged. "You in? Let's go."

"I'll race you," Percy replied, and they were off.


	9. Love

**Love**

"Do you love me?" Percy asks into the phone.

There is no answer.

"I love you. And I'm sorry. I can't look at anything without thinking of you. Everything that isn't you…well, it actually is."

He stares at the phone, willing it to answer. Just to say something, one thing, anything!

"Please, Annabeth. If I look at the bookshelf, I think of you. If I glance at the clock, I remember that one time you had a deadline at work and hid the clock so it couldn't distract you. Seriously, I can't stop thinking about you."

The phone in his hand doesn't utter a sound.

"Annabeth," Percy moans, and the sound echoes through his empty apartment.

"The tree outside our window – remember Christmas last year? We didn't have enough money to buy a Christmas tree, so we decorated the oak instead. And we put the presents underneath the tree too."

Percy's walking now, out the door, and down the stairs of the building. His footsteps remind him of the day Annabeth chased him out their door.

He passes a bakery, and sighs.

"Annabeth, the bakery, where we met for the first time, do you remember? I was working there and-"

Suddenly, his phone slips out of his hand and drops to the ground. Percy stops talking, picks up his phone silently, and stares at it for a few seconds. Then, he sits down in the middle of the sidewalk and curls into a ball.

After a few minutes of people kicking him, he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Annabeth?" Percy asks, looking up.

"No, it's me, Jason," a blonde boy who Percy recognizes as his cousin says. "But I can take you to Annabeth."

Percy nods eagerly, and stands up. "I was on the phone with her, and I dropped it. I don't think she loves me anymore, Jason."

Jason raises his eyebrows, but doesn't say anything as he leads Percy down the road and across the street. Percy is smiling, ready to see his wife, until…

"Why are we in a graveyard, Jason?" Percy questions. "Where's Annabeth?"

Jason points to a gravestone, and Percy gasps, the events of the past week coming back to him quickly.

"I'm sorry," Jason whispers, but Percy just cries. Because Percy loves that girl, and he isn't ready to let her go just yet.


	10. Soccer

**Soccer**

Annabeth waited at her door for the blue car that was expected to arrive anytime soon, anxiously tying and retying her ponytail every few seconds. She was only seven, and her parents had both left the house earlier that morning, so she had all the right to be nervous.

But luckily, she wasn't going to be alone for long. It was Saturday, September 23, and the day of her first soccer game. Annabeth was really excited, as the team had received their uniforms a few days before, and they were red, one of her favorite colors. One thing she didn't like about the uniform was that it were a little bit big for her, but then again, she had always been one of the smaller kids in her age group. Nonetheless, Annabeth was still happy that she had made it this far in soccer. She just couldn't wait any longer for their game.

As she was standing on her chilly front porch, a blue car pulled up into her driveway, and Annabeth cheered up even more. Finally, her ride had arrived, and the sooner they drove off, the sooner the game would start. She was so busy thinking about actually playing that she didn't hear the blue car's horn honking until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"What? Oh, it's just you," Annabeth said jokingly, staring into the eyes of a black-haired, green-eyed boy who she recognized as her best friend Percy Jackson.

His mom stood in the driveway, one hand on her blue Honda, and the other hand waving at Annabeth. Percy tugged on Annabeth's hand until she followed him down her steps and into the car. As he sat down in the back next to her, she couldn't help but notice how his uniform fit perfectly while hers hung loosely off her small frame.

"Percy," Annabeth whispered as the car started to move. He looked at her curiously, so she asked, "Do you think we're going to win?"

Percy shrugged, turning to face out the window. He had grown more distant from her after she had made friends with the coach's son, Luke, last practice, even though Luke was older than everyone she knew besides her parents and her babysitter Thalia. But Percy had frowned at her every time she mentioned Luke's name the last time she had seen him. And he wouldn't even let her touch his pet fish until she promised not to tell anyone (which she interpreted as her not telling Luke) about it. Annabeth really wondered why Percy was so angry at Luke. It wasn't like he had done anything bad, was it?

They finally got to the soccer fields, the whole ride having took place in silence. Even though Mrs. Jackson had tried to start up a conversation multiple times, not even the topic of going out for ice cream after the game could make either of the kids answer her. But Annabeth was silently forming a plan in her head of how she was going to get Percy to like her again.

She was going to score a goal.

Annabeth had never actually scored a goal in soccer before, not even during practice or playing at school. As she laced up her black-and-green cleats, she thought about how she would do it. Maybe she could intercept a pass from the other team. Or maybe even steal the ball directly from someone's grasp. It didn't matter. If she could score a goal, in any sort of way, then Percy would like her again.

As their fourth-grade team gathered up into a huddle, Annabeth stood next to Percy so she could put her arm around and make him like her. But he quickly slipped away before the huddle even began, and she was forced to shout "1...2...3...Go Blazers!" without him.

When the game started, Annabeth was on fire. Her team was called the Blazers for a reason, she supposed. First, she won the coin toss against the purple team, and was chosen as the lead striker to start with the ball. Quickly passing the ball to her teammate Nico, she ran down the field to try to get open for a return pass.

Suddenly, a purple-clad opponent dashed down her side of the field, the ball in his possession. Annabeth raced after him, feeling her heart beating faster and faster in her chest. This was it. This was going to be her big moment. Stealing the ball away from the other kid, she dribbled it up the field, and gave it a powerful shot. The ball flew majestically through the crisp fall air, and landed in the goal.

Annabeth was too busy celebrating to notice the Blazers' parents' collective groan. But after a while, she got scared. Why wasn't anybody cheering for her?

The coach of her team came up to her, along with Luke and said, "I'm sorry, Annabeth. You just scored for the other team."

Mortified as the news hit her, Annabeth ran off the field, her eyes threatening to fill with tears. _Don't cry_, she told herself. _Crying's for babies. _But as she collapsed on the edge of the field, tears started to roll out of her eyes without her permission. Annabeth wiped them away quickly, making up a cover story for the tears - allergies - just in case anyone saw her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Percy walking over to her, his mom nowhere in sight. Out of her other eye, she could see Luke and his dad, the coach, coming toward her also. When she saw Percy notice the other two, he started to sprint towards Annabeth. She wondered whether he wanted to get to her first, or if he just didn't want Luke to get to her. Either way, Percy reached Annabeth first, and smiled at her in a concerned way.

Percy held out a hand to her, and she accepted it. Standing up, she blinked the last tears away, and buried her face in Percy's shoulder as he pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay," he murmured into her hair. "You'll be okay."

Annabeth shook her head. "How come I messed up?" She frowned, kicking a clod of dirt across the field with her soccer cleat in anger. "I was trying to make you like me again. I wanted to do something amazing, like score a goal, and-"

"But you did score a goal, Annabeth! And I do like you. I only don't like Luke," Percy confessed. "He bullied my friend Grover a few years ago, and now I kind of hate him."

"Oh," Annabeth said, wondering how she could have been so stupid. She was _Annabeth Chase_, after all. One hundred percents, and A's on every test. Why didn't she see this coming?

"It's okay, Annabeth. I still like you." Percy smiled his trademark smile, eyes sparkling. "Now, let's go play some soccer!"


	11. Name

**Name**

He called her Annabeth. Two "meaningless" names smashed into one because he didn't know what else to do. What else could he do? A baby had shown up at his doorstep, a gift from a goddess-like woman. He couldn't very will give it back.

So her name was Annabeth. The girl grew up blonde-haired and grey-eyed, as strikingly beautiful as her mother. She made friends with a boy named Percy a few days before her father married another woman. She found solace in the black-haired seven-year-old, the same age as her but much more happy. His mom had given him a real name, since she actually cared about him.

Annabeth never liked her name. Whenever someone called her by it, she cringed. That was why Percy called her Wise Girl and she called him Seaweed Brain. Nicknames were more affectionate than real names to the pair.

One day, Annabeth came home from school asking what her name meant. They had been studying etymology, and name meanings, and Olivia's name meant "a symbol of peace" in Latin. Annabeth wanted to know what her name meant, so she asked her dad while he was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Dad, did you know that Olivia's name means a symbol of peace in Latin?" There was no answer from Fredrick Chase. He continued to read the newspaper and ignore his daughter.

"You didn't hear me, Dad, did you?" Annabeth asked, poking her dad's shoulder. "I told you something cool. And Alexander is named after his great-grandpa. Who am I named after? What does my name mean?"

Fredrick Chase still didn't answer. He was too busy reading the newspaper to care about his own daughter. But after she had tried to get his attention at least five times to no avail, he slammed down the newspaper and glared at her. "Oh, are you suddenly all high-and-mighty enough to have a name meaning. Annabeth is literally just Anna and Beth mashed together. Do you think anyone cared enough to give you a name? Do you think I _wanted_ you?" By this time, he was shouting.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth whispered. Then she ran out of the house, to Percy. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she continued to whisper. "I'm sorry."

"Wise Girl, I was eating a lollipop! What's up?" Percy asked, when she dragged him to their bush fort.

"You don't care about me either?" Annabeth wiped her tears away. She was seven, too old for tears, in her opinion. "It's okay, I'll just leave."

"Don't leave! I brought you a lollipop," Percy said sweetly, pulling out the piece of blue candy. "Is your daddy being annoying?"

"He's not my daddy," Annabeth said bitterly. "I'm disowning him."

"Is that even possible?" Percy asked. "Isn't he the one who's supposed to disown you?"

"Well, he pretty much did that," Annabeth told Percy. "H-he doesn't want me."

"And what are you going to do about that?" Percy asked. "My dad didn't want me either."

"Yeah, but at least you got a mom. Neither of my parents want me. I'm running away." Annabeth stood up.

"No! You can come to my house and hide in my room and―Annabeth?"

"Yeah?" She had to admit, Percy's voice saying her name made it a little better.

"Is that your dad?" Percy pointed, and Annabeth looked.

"Race you to your house!" she said, and they took off.

"You know, Annabeth," Percy said. There it was again, her name, not so bad anymore.

"What?"

"I could pretend you're my adopted sister. Then we could change your name to Atalanta, the Greek warrior." Percy smiled as they ran down the road.

Annabeth thought about it, really thought. "Actually, Percy," she made point to call him by his real name, "I kind of like my name. Especially when you say it."

"Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"I like when you say my name too."


End file.
